Interconnected smoke detectors, 2 bldgs.
davidmeiland
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
OK, here’s a weird one. We’ve got 3 interconnected AC powered battery backup smokes in the house. I think they’re Kidde 275 or 675, something like that, average stuff. I’m putting in a shop building about 50 feet from the house and will be putting a couple more out there. Question is, can I interconnect all of them, using a 12/3 UF cable for the connection? That way, smoke in the shop, you know about it in the house, and vice versa.
Replies
Very good question, David. I'd like to know, too.
Another point . . . why don't they market household smoke alarms with an outdoor audible alarm ? If I'm not home, I'd like for my neighbors to know there's a fire !
Greg
why don't they market household smoke alarms with an outdoor audible alarm ?
Pretty sure every security and fire panel is built that way. Certainly I've never seen one without that option in 25 yrs. Whether or not an outdoor audible is up to the installer.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Well, yeah, the systems are that way. But I'm talking about a simple stand-alone wall-hung smoke alarm of the $25 nature, but with an outdoor alarm.
Greg
That brings another thought. I heard a radio ad for a new smoke alarm with a digital voice recorder built in. Mom's voice says "Honey, there's a fire. Get out of the house right now !" The ad says kids will respond better to a known voice.
Interesting.
Greg
The ad says kids will respond better to a known voice.
Yeah anybody that thinks that kids will actually listen to anything their parents say without repeating it 87 times has never had kids... :)
I believe those work because people are more likely to wake up to a voice than a beeping sound. Actually, I have proof of that, my fire department pager. It gives four loud beeps when it goes off and then the dispatcher starts talking. In the middle of the night I never hear the beeps but wake up to the voice.
Yes, hooking them all up with a three wire run will make them all sound off together. As for adding another noisemaker to the system, you'd have to find out what the yellow wire does. Does it go from float to ground or float to hot, or some other kind of signal? You might want to buffer it with a relay if you want to run something really powerful.
-- J.S.